What Are Disaster Preppers?

Disaster Prepper is just another name for those who prepare in case of a natural disaster. There are preppers in all levels of skills and preparation.

The first level of Disaster Preppers are those who only intend to prepare for minor storms or simple disasters that may cause brief electricity or water loss. They would keep handy from 3 days to a couple of weeks of supplies. This would include water for each person in the house hold and pets and enough food as well. Some people may have enough food to last that amount of time but water can be a bigger problem if the electricity goes out. Secondly, a lot of your food that is in your cabinets may need to be cooked, so it won’t do you much good if there is no electricity.

The second level are those who prepare for bigger disasters that will involve need of larger supplies and longer periods without water and electricity. Living in New Jersey, we witnessed this recently when Hurricane Sandy hit the state. This storm affected electricity, water, gasoline, which just trickled down into so many other things. People were standing in line to fill containers for gasoline and driving for miles to look for gas in North Jersey. Some people refused to leave their homes even though they had no heat and no electricity. Others had no choice but to leave because of the flooding at the shore and some couldn’t return to their homes for months. Deciding on an evacuation plan ahead of time is very important. You may not be able to take everything with you but should have easy access to the necessities. All family members should be briefed on your family disaster evacuation plan.

The third level of disaster preppers are those who prepare for the worst case scenario. They may have food and water storage prepared for 1 year. This includes food and water per family member including pets. This last level of people most likely buy food and water in bulk and usually buy food that may have a shelf life of 7-20 years. They also may prepare this food themselves as there are ways to make food last longer. They are serious about being self-sufficient and many of them grow their own food to use for canning vegetables and fruits. Those who are serious about this usually have a bug out bag with items they may need if evacuation is necessary. It would not be usual for this level of skill and expertise to have an alternate property in case of evacuation. They are usually skilled in wilderness survival.

Whatever level of preparation you take, it is better to be prepared a little than not at all. Whatever your plan is for you and your family, you should have both a stay at home plan as well as an evacuation plan.